Win cures Tologs' blues

SAN MARINO — Whatever it was that plagued the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy girls' basketball team in its opening game was remedied when the Tologs took the court against Bernstein High Wednesday.

Sacred Heart took an early lead and used a half and full-court press to add to it in a 79-14 victory in its second game of the San Gabriel Valley Classic at San Marino High. It was a healing process for the Tologs, who fell to San Marino, 45-32, in their first game of the tournament and season Tuesday.

"We always look forward, we never look backward," Tologs Coach Gino Pacella said. "We have to focus on today because every day is different."

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The pressure wore on the Dragons (0-2), as they committed 58 turnovers and could only score one point in the second half and saw Sacred Heart grow a 25-point, 38-13, halftime lead into a 65-point victory.

"I try not to ever press or push too hard, but after last night it seemed we needed a jump start a little bit to get things going," said Pacella, whose team only committed 16 turnovers in the game.

Things were already looking bad for Bernstein, down 38-13, at halftime. It only got worse, as the Tologs (1-1) went on a 41-1 run in the last 16 minutes.

Sacred Heart seniors Lana Haddad and Maddie Romero helped their team build an early 19-7 lead in the first quarter. Haddad, a center, had eight points in the opening quarter and Romero had six off the bench. Sacred Heart went on a 10-0 run into the next quarter and the two seniors were responsible for all 10 of those points.

Haddad finished with a game-high 26 points, 12 rebounds and six steals.

"This is the team that we are," Haddad said. "When we work together like this and play the way we know how, there is no stopping us."

Romero finished with 12 points and six steals off the bench. The Tologs' senior forward Ivy Fitzgerald had eight steals, six points and four rebounds in the contest. Sacred Heart's junior forward Melene Agakanian had 11 steals, seven points and six rebounds in the game.

"We were disappointed [yesterday], but today was a great win for us and it definitely brought up everyone's mood and made us happy and excited," Agakanian said. "It showed we can push through."

Added Pacella: "We aren't going to dwell on what happened yesterday. It's not the end of the world, we have a lot of games left this season."